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PART 2 of 4: Determining the Business Goal. Client. Large financial services company with call centers across the United States. Recap. To refresh your memory about the challenger and the problem, read Design challenge – Part 1 of 4: Meet the Challenger. The first step in our challenge is to identify the business goal. What Is a Business Goal? A business goal describes the result we hope to achieve with our elearning solution; it’s the ‘What’s in it for me?’. MORE
It’s that course again. You slaved over that course for months. You did a thorough task analysis, you consulted with SMEs, you chased down stakeholders. You action mapped, you prototyped, you iterated like no one has iterated before! And though it seems like you finally launched your masterpiece just last week, a year has already passed, and the course up for revision. Where do you start? MORE
A retina display (verbiage marketed by Apple) is one that has a high enough resolution that the user cannot discern an individual pixel when looking at it from a normal viewing distance. In other words, the human eye cannot tell the difference between a photo of a painting shown on a retina display, and the painting itself! 1 As the number of learners with retina displays continues to increase, it’s important that elearning authors know how to support these super-high resolution devices. MORE
I recently heard a news story about the Ebola crisis where the expert being interviewed explained that most of the infections of healthcare workers occur not from faulty or missing protective equipment but from workers not following the correct procedures when they remove their gear. This reminded me of a prototype that SmartBuilder developed a few years ago about following correct procedures when exiting a bio lab. MORE
There’s a cool new elearning example on our website using interactive video. The video shows a customer looking for help in a hardware store. The learners’ task is to identify where service is lacking. At the end, the learner compares his/her responses with the expert responses. MORE
We pride ourselves at SmartBuilder Consulting on designing elearning that focuses on performance: helping learners do the right thing at the right time. Performance is what counts – not just reading a few pages then passing a “quiz”, which is really a test of short-term memory, or worse, an exercise in making good guesses (tip – the longest answer is usually the correct one!). MORE
It’s a good day in the world of instructional design when a client says, “We want your help making this boring training more interesting and interactive.” Even better is when they don’t just want interactivity, but meaningful interactivity. Barton Health requested exactly that with their HazCom training. The training had traditionally been driven by regulation requirements and had morphed into something that was less than engaging. MORE
There’s a good deal of buzz about using games and gamification to make elearning more fun and engaging. But how do you design an elearning game that goes beyond fact-based recall to have a deeper impact on your organization? MORE
As a follow up on my last post about optimizing graphics , I want to address a few ideas concerning the best image format for elearning graphics. When you create graphics for a course, do you save all of the images in the same format? That isn’t uncommon. However, you can use various image formats to optimize the graphics in your course. No image format does everything perfectly. You should choose the format based on the image’s characteristics. The table below can help you do that. PNG-24. MORE
Have you ever thought about how graphics’ file sizes impact elearning courses? Think back to the last video you viewed that buffered while you watched it. Buffering can make a video difficult to follow. The same thing happens when learners wait for graphics to load in elearning. Warning: Images you download from your company network or from stock image sites are not optimized for elearning. This isn’t all about the learner though. MORE
Many people, including us at SmartBuilder, are neck deep in the mobile scene with elearning. My experience has exposed many things that contribute to a positive experience on a mobile device. This post shares three things you can easily implement right away to improve the quality of the mobile experiences you’re creating. Size it right. Have you ever taken a course on a mobile device that didn’t quite fit on the screen? If you haven’t, take my word for it – it’s annoying and distracting. MORE
You settle into your stadium seat, popcorn on lap and soda nestled in its holder. The previews roll, the music swells, and your favorite actors’ names appear in starring roles. You’ve anticipated this movie for quite awhile. The title zooms in then fades. Instead of a dramatic scene fading in, the following text scrolls slowly onto the screen: You can’t wait to see what happens next. MORE
PART 1 of 4: Meet the Challenger. Client. Large financial services company with call centers across the United States. Challenge. For the past year, the company has received low call satisfaction ratings from their customers. Customer service reps (CSRs) aren’t escalating calls to supervisors at the appropriate times. This impedes the ability of supervisors to quickly respond to callers and resolve problems. MORE
We pride ourselves at SmartBuilder Consulting on designing elearning that focuses on performance: helping learners do the right thing at the right time. Performance is what counts – not just reading a few pages then passing a “quiz”, which is really a test of short-term memory, or worse, an exercise in making good guesses (tip – the longest answer is usually the correct one!). MORE
PART 3 of 4: What Do You Want Learners to DO? Recap. Here’s a quick recap of the first two parts of this ‘Challenge’ blog series: 1. THE CHALLENGE: The company has received low grades from their clients for responsiveness to callers whose calls should be escalated. Call center reps aren’t escalating calls to supervisors at the appropriate times. Read the full first post ). MORE
Make your virtual Thanksgiving a little more fun, and funny, with our Thanksgiving Bingo game! Just give the game link to each person who attends your family’s Zoom/webmeeting and see who gets to Bingo first! Feel free to download the source file and customize the text or graphics. MORE
PART 4 of 4: Create Learning Activities That Work. Recap. Here’s a quick recap of the first three parts of this ‘Challenge’ blog series: 1. THE CHALLENGE: The company has received low grades from their clients for responsiveness to callers whose calls should be escalated. Call center reps aren’t escalating calls to supervisors at the appropriate times. Read the full first post ). MORE
Have you ever wanted to allow your learners to collaborate or compete within a lesson? Well, thanks to the magic of xAPI and the power of SmartBuilder, now they can. I’ll share an example in a moment, but first, some quick background. I just completed the xAPI Cohort, “a free, vendor-neutral, 12-week learning-by-doing project-based team learning experience about the Experience API.” source: Torrance Learning). MORE
This post is part of the Design Challenge series. If you need a refresher on the project we are discussing, look at Design Challenge #1 – Part 1 of 4: Meet Our First Challenger. In this post, you’ll get a chance to check out a couple activities that we’ve developed for the project, and hone your activity building skills by critiquing them. Keep it “on-target”. MORE
This post is part of the Design Challenge series. If you need a refresher on our challenger or the project we are discussing, look at Design Challenge #1 – Part 1 of 4: Meet Our First Challenger. MORE
SmartBuilder
SEPTEMBER 27, 2021
There’s a good deal of buzz about using games and gamification to make elearning more fun and engaging. But how do you design an elearning game that goes beyond fact-based recall to have a deeper impact on your organization?
SmartBuilder
NOVEMBER 25, 2020
Make your virtual Thanksgiving a little more fun, and funny, with our Thanksgiving Bingo game! Just give the game link to each person who attends your family’s Zoom/webmeeting and see who gets to Bingo first! Feel free to download the source file and customize the text or graphics.
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SmartBuilder
NOVEMBER 21, 2019
There’s a cool new elearning example on our website using interactive video. The video shows a customer looking for help in a hardware store. The learners’ task is to identify where service is lacking. At the end, the learner compares his/her responses with the expert responses.
SmartBuilder
JULY 24, 2018
PART 1 of 4: Meet the Challenger. Client. Large financial services company with call centers across the United States. Challenge. For the past year, the company has received low call satisfaction ratings from their customers. Customer service reps (CSRs) aren’t escalating calls to supervisors at the appropriate times. This impedes the ability of supervisors to quickly respond to callers and resolve problems.
Speaker: Aaron Webb, Jamf
Apple empowers educators and students by design. In our webinar, we’ll explain how to make the best use of Apple devices in your classroom, and the tools and resources you need for success.
SmartBuilder
DECEMBER 7, 2018
Have you ever wanted to allow your learners to collaborate or compete within a lesson? Well, thanks to the magic of xAPI and the power of SmartBuilder, now they can. I’ll share an example in a moment, but first, some quick background. I just completed the xAPI Cohort, “a free, vendor-neutral, 12-week learning-by-doing project-based team learning experience about the Experience API.” source: Torrance Learning).
SmartBuilder
SEPTEMBER 17, 2018
PART 3 of 4: What Do You Want Learners to DO? Recap. Here’s a quick recap of the first two parts of this ‘Challenge’ blog series: 1. THE CHALLENGE: The company has received low grades from their clients for responsiveness to callers whose calls should be escalated. Call center reps aren’t escalating calls to supervisors at the appropriate times. Read the full first post ).
SmartBuilder
AUGUST 17, 2018
PART 2 of 4: Determining the Business Goal. Client. Large financial services company with call centers across the United States. Recap. To refresh your memory about the challenger and the problem, read Design challenge – Part 1 of 4: Meet the Challenger. The first step in our challenge is to identify the business goal. What Is a Business Goal? A business goal describes the result we hope to achieve with our elearning solution; it’s the ‘What’s in it for me?’.
SmartBuilder
NOVEMBER 16, 2017
It’s that course again. You slaved over that course for months. You did a thorough task analysis, you consulted with SMEs, you chased down stakeholders. You action mapped, you prototyped, you iterated like no one has iterated before! And though it seems like you finally launched your masterpiece just last week, a year has already passed, and the course up for revision. Where do you start?
SmartBuilder
JULY 9, 2017
We pride ourselves at SmartBuilder Consulting on designing elearning that focuses on performance: helping learners do the right thing at the right time. Performance is what counts – not just reading a few pages then passing a “quiz”, which is really a test of short-term memory, or worse, an exercise in making good guesses (tip – the longest answer is usually the correct one!).
Speaker: Treion Muller, Chief Strategy Officer at ELB Learning
Since when has learning and development become such a negative experience with learners? Treion Muller, Chief Strategy Officer for ELB Learning, will introduce a new learning framework called the C.A.R.E.S Learning Effectiveness Model.
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SmartBuilder
JULY 9, 2017
We pride ourselves at SmartBuilder Consulting on designing elearning that focuses on performance: helping learners do the right thing at the right time. Performance is what counts – not just reading a few pages then passing a “quiz”, which is really a test of short-term memory, or worse, an exercise in making good guesses (tip – the longest answer is usually the correct one!).
SmartBuilder
FEBRUARY 23, 2014
This post is part of the Design Challenge series. If you need a refresher on the project we are discussing, look at Design Challenge #1 – Part 1 of 4: Meet Our First Challenger. In this post, you’ll get a chance to check out a couple activities that we’ve developed for the project, and hone your activity building skills by critiquing them. Keep it “on-target”.
SmartBuilder
AUGUST 19, 2015
It’s a good day in the world of instructional design when a client says, “We want your help making this boring training more interesting and interactive.” Even better is when they don’t just want interactivity, but meaningful interactivity. Barton Health requested exactly that with their HazCom training. The training had traditionally been driven by regulation requirements and had morphed into something that was less than engaging.
SmartBuilder
SEPTEMBER 30, 2014
You settle into your stadium seat, popcorn on lap and soda nestled in its holder. The previews roll, the music swells, and your favorite actors’ names appear in starring roles. You’ve anticipated this movie for quite awhile. The title zooms in then fades. Instead of a dramatic scene fading in, the following text scrolls slowly onto the screen: You can’t wait to see what happens next.
Speaker: Aaron Webb, Jamf
In our webinar, we’ll explore the full range of Jamf education products to protect students, including quick and easy tools for IT admins, powerful apps for teachers to ensure student safety anywhere, and parental engagement tools.
SmartBuilder
MARCH 26, 2015
A retina display (verbiage marketed by Apple) is one that has a high enough resolution that the user cannot discern an individual pixel when looking at it from a normal viewing distance. In other words, the human eye cannot tell the difference between a photo of a painting shown on a retina display, and the painting itself! 1 As the number of learners with retina displays continues to increase, it’s important that elearning authors know how to support these super-high resolution devices.
SmartBuilder
JUNE 26, 2014
Have you ever thought about how graphics’ file sizes impact elearning courses? Think back to the last video you viewed that buffered while you watched it. Buffering can make a video difficult to follow. The same thing happens when learners wait for graphics to load in elearning. Warning: Images you download from your company network or from stock image sites are not optimized for elearning. This isn’t all about the learner though.
SmartBuilder
FEBRUARY 6, 2015
I recently heard a news story about the Ebola crisis where the expert being interviewed explained that most of the infections of healthcare workers occur not from faulty or missing protective equipment but from workers not following the correct procedures when they remove their gear. This reminded me of a prototype that SmartBuilder developed a few years ago about following correct procedures when exiting a bio lab.
SmartBuilder
NOVEMBER 18, 2014
Many people, including us at SmartBuilder, are neck deep in the mobile scene with elearning. My experience has exposed many things that contribute to a positive experience on a mobile device. This post shares three things you can easily implement right away to improve the quality of the mobile experiences you’re creating. Size it right. Have you ever taken a course on a mobile device that didn’t quite fit on the screen? If you haven’t, take my word for it – it’s annoying and distracting.
Speaker: Micah Eppler, Account Executive for Rehearsal of eLearning Brothers
Join Micah Eppler from eLearning Brothers to see hands-on examples of how organizations are transforming outcomes with video-based training strategies.
SmartBuilder
DECEMBER 5, 2013
This post is part of the Design Challenge series. If you need a refresher on our challenger or the project we are discussing, look at Design Challenge #1 – Part 1 of 4: Meet Our First Challenger.
SmartBuilder
AUGUST 5, 2014
As a follow up on my last post about optimizing graphics , I want to address a few ideas concerning the best image format for elearning graphics. When you create graphics for a course, do you save all of the images in the same format? That isn’t uncommon. However, you can use various image formats to optimize the graphics in your course. No image format does everything perfectly. You should choose the format based on the image’s characteristics. The table below can help you do that. PNG-24.
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